The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Creating a new topic so it's easier for people. We've got a new demo release for Project 6014.
Download it for Windows, Mac, and Linux here:
http://code.google.com/p/project6014/wiki/Downloads?tm=2

To prevent any content conflict, please thoroughly uninstall any previous version of UQM Project 6014 with the provided Windows uninstaller before downloading and installing this version.

Changelog:
a TON of bug fixes.
New voices.
Improved Baul and FF ships. Let us know what you think about them here (http://forum.uqm.stack.nl/index.php?topic=5156.45).
Graphical tweaks like changing the fonts, and adding nebulas.

Also as a bonus. Giant maps just like the original Star Control 2.
Red starmap:
(http://th02.deviantart.net/fs71/150/i/2012/017/7/2/project_6014_starmap___red_by_dczanik-d4mnqac.png) (http://dczanik.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4mnqac)

or if you prefer:

Blue starmap:
(http://th00.deviantart.net/fs70/150/i/2012/017/9/7/project_6014__star_map_blue_by_dczanik-d4mlu45.png) (http://dczanik.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4mlu45)

Check out the trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQBQYi88AAI&feature=youtu.be

If you have any problems, let us know.

I just had to create and account to say THANK YOU. I am a big Star control Fan, I use to play it since the first one at Sega Genesis, and I just recently found about this mod and I was Specheless. So thank you for all the great work that made this possible.

Awesome. That's great to hear! :) Out of curiosity, where did you hear about the game? This forum or some place else?

Actually I just started to play Mass Effect and the story of the game (Protheans =  Precursors...) reminded me of Star Control. I went back to Youtube to see some videos about Star Control 3 precursors and the Ending (Own the game, but never had the stomach to finish it) and I saw there the video of the P6014  Lurg.

I never expected what I found there, and when I downloaded the demo (already finished it... :P )did not believe how awesome it was. It practically was a true sequel for star control 2, love the graphics, super melee, story, new artwork, etc.

I know it was a great effort of a group of well organized fans, so thank you guys for all the work and time in this projet and wishes the best of luck with it, I am sure you made a lot of fans happier.

Clearly the YouTube posts were a cunning idea dzanick

ive been playing this game for awhile and started to think many of the ideas were inspired by H.P. Lovecrafts ideas and other sources

H.P. Lovecrafts Alien Races Art (more inspirations)
http://www.squidoo.com/the-alien-races-of-h-p-lovecraft (http://www.squidoo.com/the-alien-races-of-h-p-lovecraft)



Star Control - Artistic Elaborations (some good artistic inspirations here as well funny to)
http://androidarts.com/starcontrol/star_control.htm

 ;D

Fantastic!

I'll give your demo a try... it seems to be really good.

Thanks!

Hi,

A couple of questions (more out of curiosity), in Super Melee, is the ISD just put in there for fun?  I thought it was kinda a cool addition.  Also, what are the ship names for the Baul, Foon-foon, and Lurg (Punisher, Typhoon, and Prawn)?

I really like the Hi-Res.  Haven't played through the story yet but will soon.

thanks!  really appreciate the hard work and effort you put into it.

I'm a Star Wars fan. I thought the ISD would be fun. It's an homage to the Seven Deadly Sins Mod (http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/306277) which I've also done some work on. It's also a great way to get non Star Control fans to check out the game.  It's not part of the story. We're planning on having things like the ISD be optional ships later.  I like the idea of keeping a distinct line between Star Control universe ships, and any other "fun" ships. 


I think you answered the second question.
The Baul Punisher.
The Foon-Foon Typhoon.
The Lurg Prawn.
These are all races that will be in the full game. Right now the "Enigma" Bot is a placeholder. We've got the guys drawn, stories written out.  Just didn't want to show them off until the full game.

The feeling of playing a fresh Star Control adventure was unbelievable... THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Even with all the bugs and  the lack of speech (for the most part) it was an amazing experience.

Keep up this great work, and if you choose to release a payed sequel, you have a buyer right here.

Regards,

D'oh! What kind of bugs were you having? From my playtesting, the new demo seems pretty bug free.  :-[  The lack of  voices is more of an issue of the writing changing so quickly, and disk space concerns (it's already a lot for a 2D Demo). I have a feeling we're going to be putting in a lot more stuff once the full game comes out.

As far as the rest of your comments. Thank you. Lawyers, copyright, etc. really kind of prohibits us from charging. Plus, this has never been about money for us. We all love Star Control and the Ur-Quan Masters.  The best way to thank us, is to let others know.  Message boards, videos, etc. The more exposure we get means we can reach more fans, and entice more talented people to join the project.

I do have a couple of games that I'm working on which feel a lot like Star Control which should be available for iPhone and Android devices. They are still a ways off though. I've got so many things I'm working on now.

While the writers are busy with the story.... our programmer's have taken it upon themselves to overhaul the dialog systems in the game that would allow it to be even easier for people to write new adventures. I find this really exciting. Only time will tell how well this project goes, but after seeing some of the stuff the other programmers have done... I'm not to worried. Guys like SuperButcherX and Quinabre are amazing.

 The idea of non-programmers being able to write new adventures is just so exciting to me. No need for compilers, knowing C code, navigating the thousands of lines of code, etc.  Once this is done, I see the potential for an explosion of new adventures. Anybody can create new stories and adventures.  The adventures of Fwiffo? A Star Control 1 era prequel?  Star Control: secret missions? Exciting possibilities....

Thanks again!

My conversation with the Spathi was bugged.
I cannot recall the specifics, but I was just given one possible answer (not much of an option there), and the conversation did not make any sense (like I ask for oranges and the Spathi answered in apples). It looked like it was selecting random pieces of the dialog (like I make question 1 and he gives me the answer to question 8).

But I can try and reproduce it for you.



I have been letting others know about Star Control and the UQM universe for almost 20 years now... You bet I will be telling others about this project!


The problem with iOS games for me has always been the control scheme, and I don't feel I'd be able to endure Star Control on the iPhone... the combat it too tight to be any good with touch controls.

Anyway I'll still have a look into it. Let us know as soon as you have them available.


That would be great!

I have high expectations for this project (probably the bigger expectations I've ever had for a SC project)! Just don't loose steam, and keep the good news roling!

Thanks!

Regards,

Hi,

In Super Melee, the game crashes when I  start shooting the primary weapon on the Yehat Terminator.  I'm using Windows 7 with the high res option.

Is there any info that you would like me to provide?  It's a pretty consistent crash.

Thanks

Lately I picked up a moderately innocuous NULL-pointer dereference in the Yehat ship code, but it was more in the shields area than primary weapon.  But there could be more remaining.

Do you remember what the opponent ship was?  AI level/human player?

These bugs are hard to catch on some platforms because the behaviour is undefined; in practice that often means harmless on Linux (i.e. hard to detect), or a segfault on Windows (i.e. showstopper).  Running in debug in MSVC is a good way to find them.

Hi Edmund,

I've tried it against multiple ships (last two times against the Earthling and ISD ships) and yeah, I think it's when I have the shields on and then I tried to shoot right away.  I've also tried it with both teams in Super Melee set as Awesome Cyborg.

thanks

I installed the latest install my PC.  I'll be playing this and hopefully other games on my long list of games I need to play.

I've been playing around with Fraps on my PC to get it to record the game.  So far, I'm having issues recording since it doesn't automatically record at hires 1280x960, full screen or windowed.  For low-res 1024x768, it records fine.  Would it be possible to have 1024x768 as an option for the hires addon or if there's an easier way to record gameplay.

For my settings, the Overlay, Video Capture and Screenshot hotkeys conflicted with the F10 and F11 used for quitting and switching between full and windowed mode.  So, here is what I set my keys to:
Overlay Hotkey: F7
Video Capture:F9
Screenshot: F8

Here's a workaround for people who want to record with Fraps:
1. Start Fraps
2. In the General tab, check "Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)".  This will record the entire screen.
3. There should be a FPS counter on one of the corners of the monitor.  In the overlay corner image, click the bottom-right corner or press the Overley Hotkey set in the FPS tab until the FPS counter is in the bottom-right corner.
4. Start up Project 6014.
5. Press the Overley Hotkey one more time.  This will remove the FPS counter from view, but Fraps is still running.
6. Press the Video Capture Hotkey to start recording.  Remember to press it again to stop recording after playing.

I have a widescreen monitor and when I played back the test video, it was in the correct resolution, so nothing was stretched out after recording.
http://www.viddler.com/v/816766fc
http://starcontroller.com/files/p6014_test_recording.zip

I love the HD graphics, and the trailer rocks .
if you need any help just say! =]

Considering that that leads into an end-game sequence, I'm assuming it's still under development. :P

Wow really fantastic bit of work :) Is there an expected release date yet or is it still too early to say?

I would guess it's still too early to hazard a guess at when they can release it. Have faith, though these guys are doing this all on their oun time. I for one understand about real life interfering with progress on this fantastic mod. I too find it difficult to be patient, but I think it will be worth every minute these good people put into it.  ;D

Now back by popular demand......The Judge, harassing the devs!

Actually I have one question on topic, and one slightly off but I am going to ask it anyway.

The obvious question- How is work on the game going so far?

Less obvious question- I play a game called Freelancer quite a bit and while playing on one of the discovery servers i have encountered players by the name of Lurg, Chmmr and Ur-Quan. Wouldn't happen to be any of the Devs around here by chance?

Hmm, I realize now I posted in the wrong thread earlier.

2 possible bugs: when I landed on Mars it was just a brown sheet, and the Syreen commander was a blank black screen.  Well, just the picture and text.

Also, although I have zero skills for programming, is there something I can do to help?

Sometimes, it feels like if I don't respond to these posts, nobody else will.  :P

Before I talk about 6014, I'd like to mention my  bastard  step-child... Ur-Quan Masters HD.  It's pretty much me doing all the art and programming on it.   Without a programmer, things have slowed down a lot for me.  That, and with some software problems (which were just fixed today...YAY!), it's been a little slow.  So, I'm guessing a couple months from now.  If any programmers would like to help, I'd love it.  There's some bugs I need to work out, then I'll release screens and videos.

First, a late response the infamous Judge.  Nobody I know (as far as I know) was playing Freelancer.  If they were, they got to let me know, I'v been itching to play Freelancer again.  One of the last best games of its genre.  The Empire Tides of War and the Crossfire mods look amazing.  Recently bought Wing Commander III and IV off GOG.com that I'm also wanting to play again.... not to mention a whole slew of games off Steam.

How is the game going so far?  Well, things have slowed down a bit lately.
The programmers have had their hands full with life.  But Death 999 is working on the new dialog system.  Once this is done, it will allow the writers to easily create the dialog without needing the programmers.

On the writing side... this is always our biggest hurdle.  Trying to get everybody to agree on everything is damn near impossible.  Despite my reluctance to be involved with the story, I've started with some of the writing duties. My job right now is setting up the non-linear outline for the game so we can test  how everything runs in the game.   I'll be doing what I can to push the story forward. Death 999 is also doing some writing.  I believe he did the Vux writing in the demo.

On the art side, my time has been taken up with UQM-HD.  My art tablet stopped working (I only got it working today) due to a software problem.  But, like I always said... art is never the problem for this game.  Thanks to Kwayne, We've got some new aliens and some new animations done for them.

Danzibr: Just wanted to say, I saw your other posts, just never seem to have the time to reply to everybody.  It may take me a while, but I try to read  and respond to every post. The lander bug on Mars is something I'm aware of.   All the rotating planets and HD stuff was stuff we created in my side project, UrQuan Masters HD.  We just implemented the code into 6014.  Mars is something that was never implemented.  See, I've got a bunch of textures of all the solar system planets.   Instead of a generic dirt planet, we were going to have the actual terrain of Mars (and all the other Sol planets).  It was just something we never seemed to have time for.  We were worried about performance so that was a last priority for us.

The game is still too far off to give a release date.  I doubt it will see a 2012 release, but I'll be upset if we don't give birth to this sucker in 2013.  ;)  And, I'm calling it now...  Ur-Quan Masters HD by November. Happy 20th birthday Star Control!

Oh. Regarding your request to help.  Art and programming are our main needs.  But writers isn't one of them.  It sounds strange since the writing part is so slow.  I think we actually have too many writers.  Every artist, programmer, forum member, etc. has their ideas on how the story should go.  We all see this as our baby, and just want everything to be perfect.

I do have one request.  We need a translation project coordinator to direct the translations for the game.  We're starting to get a good group of guys for the Russian translations, but I need somebody who speaks English that can help explain things like slang.  The Russian translators don't speak English very well. Ask the writers what they mean by something (ie. Nobody on the translation team understood what an Admirelle was.  It was just a made up term for the Syreen).  I've been the guy trying to drum up support for translations.  My goal is to have the translations available the day the game is released as an add-on.

I need a guy to help make this happen.  You don't need to speak Russian, Spanish, etc. Google Translate is your friend.  Just contact the people.  Assign tasks. Modify the wiki. Get them to modify my Photoshop UI files with the correct translations.  This will also help me on my HD project so it will be really easy to implement the existing translations for the game.  This takes up way too much of my time trying to coordinate this stuff. Time I need for programming, art, and (now) writing.

Work in Progress of the Russian add-on:
(http://star-control.com/community/download/file.php?id=420)

Hey, cool with the actual surface of Mars thing.  It's attention to detail like that which makes a great game (well, a big factor).  Also, excited about the November release date.

As for the Russian thing... I also have zero experience coordinating anything.  It'd feel very weird to be telling people what to do.  If nobody else steps up I can try, but I may suck at it.

Damon, with such slow progress, I think I could use the worktime gaps making a hungarian translation. Just to add one more language to the list.

Awesome Kwayne!  I have some family in Hungary that would love to play the game, but they don't speak English (or don't speak it very well).  Your English is incredible.

Danzibr, no problem.  I wouldn't call it telling them what to do, more like "here's the files we need".  They can pick and choose. These guys have translated all of the Ur-Quan Masters, so they know what to do.  Other than that, helping to promote the game is our #1 need.  Not every fan of the games reads these forums.

Indeed, I was doing some promotion on the Giant in the Playground forums.  Great lot, there.

I just finished the demo.  It was a bit hard finding the Shofixti but bravo!  I can't wait until this is completed!

Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it! Out of curiosity, where did you hear about the game?

I don't remember how I originally heard about UQM but I ran into it about a year, maybe two years ago.

For the second time, I did a Google search after getting the original SCII on DOSBox.  I used to have it for the 3DO and loved it.  However, the DOSBox version didn't have the voice overs I loved so I'm very excited to have stumbled upon this.  Again, it was through a Google search mainly and a bit of Mass Effect to remind me of this game.

NeoGAF also pointed me in the direction for the download of the game.

Hey dczanik, how long have you been working on the HD UQM project? I think all the, well, cool planet stuff and high res ships in Project 6014 is amazing, and to learn it came from your HD UQM project just got me wondering.

Ah. Well, I started around September 2010. Here's the original post:
http://forum.uqm.stack.nl/index.php?topic=4861.0

Keep in mind, UQM-HD has always been a side project.  I got the idea when I got frustrated by confusing stars with tiny planets.  When Timewarp came out, I was excited that there was a next step to creating a high resolution game.  After years of nothing, I decided to create my own.  When seeing if anybody had started anything like this, I came across Project 6014.  After seeing the talent was there, I decided to join the team.

I was even more excited when I heard that one of the 6014 developers, Quinabre had started a 640x480 (2x) side project.  I wanted to create a 1900x1200 game.  Given the resources we had the best compromise was the 1280x960 (4x) resolution.  I started coding the 4x game.  We got to put in things that I had always wanted to see like the planets rotating, and nebulas.  Some of the things I had really wanted (and still do) was things like having more than 16 angles, widescreen resolutions, etc.  We just don't have the programmers for it.  But once we had the proof of concept done, the plan was always to incorporate that stuff into 6014.  UQM-HD became our "Area-51" test site for 6014.  The other programmers really did an amazing job helping me. I recruited Zenzmurfy and Kwayne to help out with the art.

As you can see from the demo, the two games share many of the same art assets.  There are things in the art of 6014 that don't look finished.  That's really my fault.  Working on two projects, I sometimes have had to settle for 'good enough'  to meet deadlines.  But there's a lot that has been changed, or is planning to be changed.  For example, nobody planned to have an intro for the 6014 demo.  I made all the intro art in a week.

One of the reasons for the delay, is once we got the go ahead from Cedric, to merge the HD project  we ported everything over.  From there, we were just fixing the bugs on the 6014 side.  So, the HD stuff has a lot of bugs we've already fixed in 6014. But the biggest issue is just creating the art while working full time, and doing other art projects.  My new job is in R&D, and I'm coding for multi-million dollar projects for some large companies that will be used across the world.  It's hard to find the time to draw.  I'm still putting in a good 2 hours every day though.  We also have Kwayne who is dedicated to 6014 and is an art machine.   But for now, the UQM-HD stuff is just me.

I'll probably have a trailer up in the next 30-45 days.

I'd like to note that the art machine sort of lost his computer a few months ago.

I used to work on P6014 (and UQM when tasks overlap) 3-4 hours a day, so this might make the delay even longer. It is possible that I'll be unavailable for the rest of the year or even longer ... although I seriusly, literally feel physical pain every day I can't contribute ... until I find a computer silent enough for my nerves.

Before I start in, just wanted to say thank you to those who have and still are working on project 6014 .

So this is probably a stupid question, but I can't figure this out...

The windows .exe installer will not work for me, so I have been looking for the alternative .bat file that is mentioned, but I am not seeing it. Where is the .bat installer files necessary to run the latest demo on windows?

I don't think it's necessary. I think that was just needed for the first version of the demo. Are you getting an error message with the installer? I can send you a batch file, if you need it. But you'll need the game installed.

If it's hanging up when installing I'll create an online folder with dropbox or Google drive you can use. :-)

This demo already is awesome.

As the ending is easily really soon at hand, I decided to go exploring. By exploring, I mean going through star systems methodically, mining for exotic materials and all bio while taking notes of best bio and/or mineral systems.

One oddity I came across: around beginning of June 2169 the sheres of influence disappear. Same happens to Alliance ships is home systems. Starbases are still there and no one seems to notice anything unusual (or anything at all). Is this a leftover from UQM (SC2 time limit), or something related to P6014 plot?

Iiiiiiiiinteresting.  I did some exploring, but not much.  I mean, I just went around and found the rainbow worlds.  Hmm...

I don't see anything in the plot about that. And if there were, we probably wouldn't leave the starbases untouched!